ArchivedLogs:Engaged to be Engaged

Engaged to be Engaged
Dramatis Personae Daken and Anette	2015-09-16 "I'd hate for you to do something you don't want to because of me. Do you want to be in a relationship with me?" (Takes place immediately after Old Man.)
Location <BOM> Front Porch - Main Lodge - Ascension Island
The front porch of the lodge unfurls its way across the entire front length of the building. Stained in a dark reddish finish, it seems to have been refurbished somewhat recently, the sturdy wood rather less weather-beaten than many of the buildings on the island. A half-height railing edges most of the porch, with a wide gated staircase centrally leading to the heavy front door, and ungated ramps at either side end. Protected from all but the most driving of rains by a sloped roof, the porch has been furnished with an assortment of furniture. Wicker rocking chairs, a pair of small square aluminum tables, a hammock at the far right end, a bench swing at the left. Despite the solid locks on the doors and windows, the front door holds a cheerfully flower-edged mat reading WELCOME. It's late afternoon on the island, and there is finally a bit of a cool bite to the air. The porch area is empty at the moment, save for Daken, who appears to just be getting back to the island. A duffel bag sits near his feet, and he's dressed in a pair of black slides, black basketball shorts with red trim, and a green shirt depicting a lion with the lyrics to 'Roots Rock Reggae' in the background. The mutant is leaning against the railing and watching the sun set. The clicking sound of crutches announces Anette way before she's actually visible. After only a moments struggle, she manages to open the door and hobbles out onto the porch. The sight of Daken brings a smile to her face and she makes her way over. "I was beginning to think you left me for someone who wasn't a fugitive," she teases, leaning on one of her crutches. "How've you been?" "Was digging through my caches, got a few of the weapons and all the cash I had stashed around the Lower East Side and Clinton." Daken explains, turning to look at Anette. "While I was on the way, I met an animal shifter, reminded me of myself. So naturally, I kicked his ass. At least after he said he met you, and that you were entirely too friendly for having a boyfriend." He still looks pretty annoyed, but he still moves to kiss Anette's cheek if she allows it. "I missed you." "An animal shif-Killian? You met him?" Anette suddenly glares at Daken. "And you /what/?" She allows the kiss but she's not too thrilled with Daken right now, yellow eyes staring holes into him. "He's the only reason I'm not dead right now and /that's/ how you repayed him?" Apparently the accusation that she was playful goes uncommented. "He's not dead. And that's only because you aren't either." Daken says, fishing a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and popping one into his mouth. "Want one?" he offers, holding the pack out and lighting his own. "I'm also going to speak to Regan about him wanting to join the Brotherhood. Though I'll warn her that he's exactly like I was. And that I might end up smashing his face into a wall until he stops moving. But that's just one of the many risks when you want to become a terrorist." Anette shakes her head as Daken offers. "You know I don't smoke." Because that makes sense, given her other vices. "He wants to join? Good for him, he'd be useful to have around." She narrows her eyes as Daken threatens him again. "Behave. He's a good guy, I don't see why you hate him so much." "Comes with the territory. I'm a pretty good judge of character, and you can tell a lot about a man when you fight him. He's sneaky, no real backup plan if that doesn't work." Daken explains. "And he made moves on you, obviously. I could see you literally ripping somebody's throat out for flirting with me. I fought a /panther/ because somebody made moves on you. And a giant snake. He turns into a giant snake too." "So he's impulsive and thinks on his feet. He's also extremely loyal and skilled." Anette rolls her eyes. "It was flirting. We flirted, alright? You know me, it's what I do. It means nothing. And no, I wouldn't rip someone's throat out for flirting with you. If they slept with you, maybe. Is this seriously what's going to happen anytime someone moderately attractive looks at me?" "Of course not. Maybe if they flirt with you and want to be a member of the Brotherhood. Otherwise I'll just key their vehicle or trip them like a normal person." Daken clearly isn't taking this as seriously as Anette. "Besides, he isn't as pretty as me. So I'm not worried, was an honor thing, not a me being jealous thing." "Well, it sounds an awful lot like a jealous thing. How bad of shape did you leave him?" Anette says, eyebrow raised and lips pressed together in a very 'not amused' expression. "Because the honorable thing would be for me to return the favor by nursing him back to health and I don't know if you trust us being alone in the same room again." There's some humor in her voice with this last statement. Some. "He has a healing factor. But to answer your question, I took the fur and meat off of his shoulder when he tried to claw my throat out, and I cut his leg a bit. But he should be fine now." Daken looks a little less amused at the last statement. "Definitely not. I'd have to sit in the corner with a shotgun. I'd have to see his hands at all times, and if he spoke where I couldn't hear him he'd catch a slug to the chest, just to be safe." This might be a joke, but he doesn't give it away if it is. Anette cringes as Daken describes exactly what he did to the other mutant. "Jesus Christ, what the hell is /wrong/ with you? What was I supposed to do, bleed to death? And what do you care if he claws your throat, you're immortal! And knowing you, you started the damn fight!" She rolls her eyes again as Daken reacts to the hypothetical situation. "Clearly not a jealous thing at /all/." "He walked away without a scratch." Daken defends, puffing on his cigarette. "And maybe it is a jealous thing. You left me. We decide to work things out then you're flirting with him /after/ a bullet breaks your leg. I mean, I understand you were in a lot of pain and it probably helped you focus on something else... But it worries me. It worries me a lot." "First off," Anette says, taking a completely serious tone. "You left /me/ when you decided your father was more important than me getting the shit beat out of me. Second, I was hurt and just thankful I found someone to help. I really thought I was going to die. He flirted with me so I flirted back. What are you worried about, that I'm going to cheat? That I'm going to break up with you for real?" "Yes, maybe. Shit, I don't know." Daken takes another drag before throwing his cigarette over the railing. "This is all new, and I lose sleep over this shit." He collects his bag and heads over to sit in one of the chairs. "But seeing you makes me happy. And it's worth all the worrying I do." "You're really into this romance and love thing, aren't you?" Anette says, hobbling over towards the rails and jumping up to sit on it. "You lose sleep? /How/? I mean...I know I've lost sleep but that was because of...well, you know." She frowns slightly at Daken's last statement but says nothing. "How do I lose sleep? I worry. I do actually sleep, just not as often as you." Daken replies. "And yes, I am. I'm not with you because I'm bored and it passes the time. I mean, we both started off like that. But I really care for you. Figured you'd feel at least similarly, so you'd know what it was like. But I've been wrong before." "But what are you worrying about, me? That, what, you're going to screw up again? That I'm going to screw up and get myself killed? That you're going to come to your senses and realize you could and should do better?" Anette swings her good leg slightly as she sits up on the railing. "I care for you. I really do which is why I keep my distance. Because as far as I can see, no matter how much caring is between us, we are absolutely /terrible/ for each other. Frankly, I'm amazed we made it this far. Happy, but amazed." "Almost all of the above. I came to my senses, it's why I'm with you." Daken pushes up and heads over to where Anette is on the railing. "We aren't terrible for each other. In fact I could see me actually marrying you one day." He leans against the rail and wraps an arm around Anette's waist. "We just have to stop pretending we don't care for each other as much as we do, and deliberately trying to sabotage our happiness." Slowly, Anette twists her head, her yellow eyes huge which really just adds to the Exorcist feel. "You can see yourself /what/?" she says, her voice firm but cold as if he had just confessed to murdering puppies. "Six months ago, you practically had to force me to start dating you. I've tried to break up with you multiple times since and you've wormed your way back in and you can still see us getting /married/." One taloned hand grips the railing tightly while the other holds her head, the elbow pressed against her leg. "I don't pretend. I really do care about you. I'm not...I'm not trying to sabotage us. Look, you're trying to become a better person and that's fine but I'm not. I know I'm angry and fucked up. But unlike you I have no desire to change. And I know you want me to. At the same time, I'm going to be trying to draw the angry, hateful Daken out. How do you see that possibly working?" "That...that was never my intention." Daken removes his arm and takes a step back. He exhales slowly and turns his attention skyward. "Then I'll make all of this easy. And don't feel like I'm pressuring you to see things my way, I'm not. I'd hate for you to do something you don't want to because of me." He's silent for a moment or two, before finally looking over at Anette. "Do you want to be in a relationship with me?" Anette watches Daken curiously as he steps back, posing the question. She takes a deep breath, keeping silent for a moment. "You want me to be a better person. I know you do, you've mentioned it before. I appreciate the thought but...that's not who I am, who I'll be, or who I want to be. And how are you going to become better when you have me pulling on you like a rabid dog, wanting vengeance for every slight and hating everyone who ever hurts us?" "The harder I try, the closer to giving up I come. You're looking at the best I'm going to get." Daken tucks his hands into his pockets, fiddling with whatever he has inside them. "But that doesn't really answer the question. What do /you/ want?" Anette breathes out a sigh, leaning back on the railing as much as she safely can, wingtips out to add balance. "I love you. I wish I didn't because it would make my life a hundred times easier but I do. I want to be with you, even though I still think it's a terrible idea. But I do want to be with you." Make of that what you will. "I love you too. We'll just have to hope we're making the right decision." Daken says, worrying his lower lip with his canines. "I won't try to change you, and I won't be changing myself any more. It's just stressful and nobody notices or gives a shit anyway." Anette shakes her head, looking down to the floor. "I never said I didn't want you to change. I love that you're trying to become a better person. I just didn't want to be the reason it failed. Which apparently has already happened." "I /am/ a better person than I was. I'm not a complete asshole, and I don't kill people. Usually." Daken reaches over to pat Anette's (not broken) leg. "If I tried to make myself a better person, they'll need to make me a saint." Anette looks back up to Daken, relaxing a bit as he reassures her. "And you don't have any problem with being with someone who's essentially the same as your former self?" "Not at all." Daken presses his lips to Anette's shoulder. "I like you just the way you are." "I don't believe a word of that," Anette says, though the smile on her face suggests she's taking it quite as seriously as before. The kiss she leans in for confirms all is forgiven. "So I have to ask, earlier...where the hell did the idea of getting married come from?” "Because there's only two ways this'll end." Daken says simply. "We don't work out or we do work out. And if we work out that means I'll eventually propose. Even though it wouldn't be an official on the record marriage. Unless you get pardoned and register, then I'd have to become an actual citizen and register. And we both know how likely that is to happen." Anette chuckles softly at the idea of them registering. "Yeah, that's not happening. They can register me when I'm six feet under." She tilts her head slightly, pondering the idea of an unofficial marriage. "How would that even work? I mean...the only reason I'd bother with marriage is for the legal crap. What would even change besides calling you my husband and wearing a ring?" "Nothing, basically all that would change if we paid for everything. More room for creativity too. Be a big merging of what we believe, what the people here believe, tradition, and originality. Just a celebration of us, and a chance for the Brotherhood to celebrate." Daken explains. "Besides, when else would you get to see me dress like I was ten again?" Anette grins and leans up against Daken, resting her head on his shoulder. "I don't know what half of that means but I'll take it. I don't know, maybe marriage isn't so bad. Especially when it's not official." Daken runs his fingertips across Anette's back. "It just means we get to dress up, eat food, get drunk, then have sex. Basically how our dates usually go if we don't get mugged." He jokes lightly, leaning his head against her's. Anette laughs and gently kisses Daken's neck. "Very true. Of course, you'd have to actually propose first before any of that happens," she teases slightly. Daken bites his bottom lip at the kiss. "You keep that up we might have to skip the dressing, eating, and drinking." He moves around so he's in front of Anette, then leans in to kiss her lips. "Good. I wasn't hungry," Anette whispers, leaning back as Daken stands up to face her. She smiles and gently returns his kiss. "How about we make our way somewhere private?" Daken suggests with a small grin. Anette grins and hops down onto her good leg, propping her crutches under her arms. "Lead the way."